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She warned, “That would undercut the long-held norm against nuclear testing that has bound every state except North Korea.”

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Russia Warns of Retaliation

The Kremlin reacted swiftly to Trump’s comments. Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, called recent Russian military exercises “routine” but issued a stark warning. “If someone deviates from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said.

Experts say that a U.S. return to nuclear testing could trigger an arms race. Davenport cautioned that renewed tests would “allow states like Russia and China to catch up with the United States,” eroding the advantage that U.S. scientists maintain through sophisticated computer simulations and modeling at U.S. National Laboratories.

For more background on U.S. nuclear testing history, see the Department of Energy’s Nevada archive: DOE_NV-209_Rev16.pdf.

Lawmakers Sound the Alarm

Sen. Jack Reed, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he interprets Trump’s comments “at face value” to mean “nuclear explosive testing.” Reed noted that during the Cold War, the U.S. conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests — far surpassing both Russia and China.

Experts are warning that resuming nuclear testing could destabilize decades of global nonproliferation efforts.

Those tests helped the U.S. build “sophisticated modeling codes,” Reed said, allowing scientists to safely verify the reliability of the nuclear arsenal without detonations.

“The global moratorium on testing locked in a technical advantage for the United States,” Davenport said. “Reopening the door to nuclear testing would be foolish — it could let others catch up.”

A Dangerous Shift in Global Stability

While Trump has not elaborated on his remarks, the potential for renewed nuclear testing represents a profound shift in U.S. nuclear policy and a direct challenge to decades of arms control agreements.

Experts warn that even hinting at resuming explosive tests could unravel the fragile global consensus that has kept nuclear weapons use in check since the end of the Cold War. As Davenport concluded, “The moment one state tests, the entire nonproliferation regime could begin to unravel.”